Redescription of Orculella aragonica (Westerlund 1897), an Iberian species different from O. Bulgarica (Hesse 1915) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Orculidae)

Orculella bulgarica (Hesse 1915) has been recorded from Bulgaria and western Asia, including Turkey, but has also been reported from Spain by several authors. Most studies on this species have been on subfossil shells. Recent findings of living populations in Turkey and Spain have allowed us to report on the reproductive system morphology and mtDNA sequences of this taxon. Despite the apparent lack of conchological differences between specimens from these two geographical areas, this new information revealed the presence of two species. Review of the literature pertaining to Iberian orculids, led us to conclude that the examined population in Spain species must be assigned to Orculella aragonica (Westerlund 1897), and all previous reports of O. bulgarica from the Iberian Peninsula should be ascribed to the former. This species is redescribed and diagnosed herein, highlighting differences between it and O. bulgarica. Some notes about its conservation status and biogeographic origin are also provided

Report of the complex geoarcheological survey at the Ecse-halom kurgan in Hortobágy, Hungary

The Ecse-halom is a burial mound (kurgan) in the Hortobágy region of Hungary. Built in the Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age by nomadic people from the east, it now stands on the border between two modern settlements. A road of medieval origin runs along this border and cuts deeply into the body of the mound. The southern half of the mound was plowed and used as a rice field, and later a military observation tower was built on top of it. Despite this disturbance, the surface of the mound is in decent condition and provides a home for regionally significant, species-rich loess steppe vegetation. The mound comprises two construction layers as indicated by magnetic susceptibility and thin-section micro-morphological analysis. Examination of organic compounds and carbonate content at various levels showed different values, which suggest a variety of natural and anthropogenic stratigraphic layers. Mid-sized siltstone fraction is dominant in the section. The layers originate from the immediate vicinity of the mound, but have different characteristics than present-day soils. These mounds contain a valuable record of cultural and environmental conditions occurring at the time of their construction, and also serve as a refuge for ancient loess vegetation; therefore their conservation is highly recommended

Micro-CT screening of old shell collections helps to understand the distribution of viviparity in the highly diversifed clausiliid clade of land snails

Current zoological research may benefit in many ways from the study of old collections of shells. These collections may provide materials for the verification of broad zoogeographical and ecological hypotheses on the reproduction of molluscs, as they include records from many areas where sampling is currently impossible or very difficult due to political circumstances. In the present paper we present data on viviparous and embryo-retention reproductive modes in clausiliid land snails (subfamily Phaedusinae) acquired from specimens collected since the nineteenth century in the Pontic, Hyrcanian, and East and Southeast Asian regions. X-ray imaging (micro-CT) enabled relatively quick screening of more than 1,000 individuals classified within 141 taxa, among which we discovered 205 shells containing embryos or eggs. Gravid individuals were found to belong to 55 species, representing, for some of these species, the first indication of brooding reproductive strategy

Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

Peer reviewe

Microhabitat associations of land snails in forested dolinas: implications for coarse filter conservation

We determined microhabitat associations for 39 land snail species based on multimodel inference and generalized linear mixed models using a comprehensive and micro-scale data set from the Aggtelek Karst Area, Hungary. Patterns of microhabitat associations were highly nested among microhabitat types (litter, live trees, dead wood, rock) with high number of specialist species in dead wood and in rock microhabitats. Species composition was highly predictable in these microhabitats as opposed to live tree and litter faunas. Species richness was affected by microhabitat, topographic factors and local moisture conditions. Species richness in dead wood and rock microhabitats remained high irrespective of the topographic effects as opposed to litter and live tree microhabitats, where richness decreased with drier microhabitat conditions due to topography. Our results imply that consideration of topographic factors and microhabitat quality as part of coarse filter conservation measures could be beneficial to local land snail populations in the face of changing climate and disturbance regimes